Dawn and Spike's Night Alone
by Gilly Bean2
Summary: Dawn and Spike spend a night at the house, where Dawn jokingly starts a list. *Complete*


_AN: This story some of you will recognize as having been longer, and it was. It used to go by the name of Semblance of Normal. Originally, I started this as a short story to answer a challenge from Valerie over at Band of Buggered, but after much prodding, I made it longer, and started a whole series from it. However, I have never liked the way it turned out from there, and have since ditched the rest of what was written. This is it in the original form, how I liked it, and how I will be keeping it now. Sorry, no added chapters. –xoxo Gilly_

*

Opening the door, Spike slipped quietly into the house. He knew Dawn was around somewhere, but he wasn't in the mood to talk with her right now. He just came to get back his lighter, and leave. He knew Buffy was out patrolling, and that was just fine with him, because he had no desire to run into her, either. Heading up the stairs, he saw the light on under Dawn's door. Loud music could be heard thumping away, as well. His lil bit didn't have the same taste in music as him, but he was willing to overlook that right now, and suffer through the 'Nsync. He made his way silently to Buffy's room, and opened the door. Dawn turned and dropped the sweater she was holding, then gasped in surprise that it was Spike, and not Buffy. Frowning, he tilted his head as he looked at her.  
  
"Lil bit, what are you doing in here? Taking more of the slayers clothes?" Spike asked as he leaned casually against the door frame.  
  
"Noo... I was only going to try it on. Besides, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you and Buffy be off making with the smooochies?" She stared pointedly at him. Had he been human, he's pretty sure he would have blushed.  
  
"Don't know what your talkin bout, pet. Slayer's out patrolling, an I came by to nic my lighter. You seen it laying around?" Spike went about looking for his lighter, while Dawn just looked on for a minute.  
  
"I saw the two of you kissing. Does this mean she feels the same, Spike?" Dawn had been trying to get the two of them together, but her sister had been so cranky lately that it was impossible to want to be around her, let alone to try and force her on others.  
  
"Dawn, I don't think anything's happening there. She's different, the slayer is. She doesn't see me as anything worth her time. I'm the big bad, remember?" Spike said to her, his cocky tone breaking once or twice. Dawn knew how he felt, and wished Buffy would feel the same.  
  
"No you're not. You have a chip, it's just the same as having a soul." Dawn walked over and grabbed a piece of paper off of Buffy's desk, and a pen. "Come on, Spike, I have an idea. Let's go to my room, and talk." Spike shrugged, and followed behind her. Entering her room, Dawn turned the music down a bit, but left that god awful CD in. Glaring at the machine, Spike took her desk chair, and sat in it backwards, resting his arms across the back of it.  
  
"So, what's your idea, Dawnie?" Dawn smiled up at him, and wrote in careful precise letters across the top: 50 Things Worse then Spike. She showed him the paper, to which he raised an eyebrow. She smiled up at him, her easy trusting smile, and then started writing numbers along the side of the paper.  
  
"We're going to make a list, you and I, and show Buffy that there are worse things then you."  
  
"Gee, lil bit, when you put it that way..." Spike tried to scowl, but couldn't, and his tone was joking.  
  
"Come on, let's brainstorm. There are so many more evils in the world." Spike agreed with that, and they started to think.  
  
"Well, you know, Glory was far worse then you ever were, Spike. She can be number 1." They slowly made their way down the list. At number 18, they got stuck, until Spike shouted out, "Disco! And I don't mean that redone techno disco, but the original stuff I had to live... er... I had to go through. That stuff was evil. Made perfectly cool people into mindless dancing drones." Dawn giggled and looked at him in disbelief, and wrote it down. So far, such highlights as Tofu and Bell bottoms had already made the list.  
  
"You know, if you get Bell bottoms and disco, I should get capri pants. Those things are so gross." Dawn told him. He thought on it for a moment.  
  
"I suppose I can concede that one."  
  
They continued on down the list, coming up with some rather good ones, such as Warren ("He was totally creepy, Spike, I don't care if he did make you the buffybot for a good price."), blind dates ("Don't worry, lil bit, you can't ever date, so you'll never know the horrors that await"), and Parker ("He was just as creepy as Warren, only he KISSED Buffy!"). They came to a head over curfews, however.  
  
"It's not fair, when Buffy was my age, she was out patrolling until 3 am some nights. How come I can't go out past 10? And that's on the weekend!"  
  
"Because, pet, you are not the slayer, you are the little sister prone for finding trouble."  
  
"So not fair, it's not MY fault trouble looks for me."  
  
In the end, they agreed that curfews could be on the list. They settled the great debate on Harmony, deciding that even though she made a pretty pathetic Vampire, she was still mean and nasty to Buffy when she was alive. Spike groaned, realizing how far he had come in the past few years. As they thought up more, Dawn reached back, and pulled out a basket full of nail colors. She smiled and tossed him Radical Razzberry, and wiggled her toes up in his face. He laughed for a moment, then settled into familiar and comfortable position. Dawn pulled his shoes and socks off, and pulled out the black nail polish. They continued brain storming, and Dawn would stop every few minutes to add more to the list.  
  
"How about those people who talk in movies?" Dawn looked up at him, and he nodded.  
  
"Right evil bastards they are, put em down, bit." He went back to painting her toes. After about 5 more minutes, they had a list of 48. Dawn had slipped Drusilla in without telling him. She knew he was over her, but he still didn't like talking about her much.  
  
"Spike... what's that horrible material clothes from the 70's was all made of? Poly...Polyester! That stuff is SOOO not cool, which therefore means, it must be evil, and done away with!" Spike laughed full out, the rich sound filling the small room.  
  
Buffy saw the light in Dawn's room was still on as she walked down the street. She quietly entered the house, and heard her music playing, though it wasn't nearly as loud as it normally was. Sighing, she kicked off her shoes, and made her way up the stairs, until she heard that rich sound filling the air. Frowning, she realized Dawn had a boy in her room. Stomping the rest of the way up, she threw the door open, only to be confronted with Dawn and Spike, painting each others' toe nails. She stopped abruptly, and blinked a few times.  
  
"What are you two doing?" she asked them. They both looked up and smiled. Spike screwed the top on Radical Razzberry, and smirked at Buffy.  
  
"Wot's it look like, luv?" He winked at Dawn. Dawn looked at the list, and thought for a moment before putting Angelus down on the list really quick.  
  
"Buffy, we made something for you!" Spike's eyes widened slightly.  
  
"Pet, that was just fooling around... she doesn't want that." He said as Buffy reached for the piece of paper. If he could have blushed, he would have done so, right here on the spot. He wiggled, and Dawn pulled on his foot. "Knock it off, or you will have smudges." He looked down at her, and noticed she was covering his toes up. Another look around showed that the bottle of black was back in the basket.  
  
"Hey, now, bit, wot are ya doin down there?" Dawn giggled at him, and Buffy sat down on the bed to read the list. She giggled as soon as she read the title.  
  
Dawn pulled back and showed Spike the bottle of Cheery Cherry, a bright sparkly red color. "I gave you smiles!"  
  
Spike groaned about the same time Buffy did. He looked over at her questioningly. "You guys are right... Capri's are so much worse then Spike could have ever been in his whole big bad life." With that, she continued reading.  
  
"Curfew? Curfew's are not the bane of all evil, they are the rules which lead you." Even Spike couldn't keep a straight face as he heard that.  
  
"Buffy, you were staying out late when you were my age. I'm not saying I should be able to all the time.. just at times when I have... well... say, a date." Dawn hedged around it for a moment, then buried her face in the basket of colors when she said the word Date.  
  
"Date? Well, when you are 17 and allowed to date, I'll think about letting you stay out later." Buffy went back to the list. Spike, however, was staring at Dawn as though she had sprouted wings.  
  
"You will do no such thing. No dating, or I tag along, and we know how much fun that can be, bit." Pouting, Dawn looked up. She hadn't loved Buffy's answer, but Spike's was worse.  
  
"Well, I have to eventually date, or how am I supposed to get married, and make babies?" Dawn looked up at him with what she called her innocent face. Buffy stopped reading to look at the two of them for a moment, and Spike nearly sputtered.  
  
"Babies?? You will do no such thing! There will be no dating!"  
  
"Well, when can I date then?"  
  
"When I'm dead... you can date over my dead body!" He looked at her and growled a bit.  
  
Dawn whined for a moment. "But Spiiiiiike... you are immortal! You can't die!" She pouted like a 4 year old for a moment. Buffy held back a giggle. She loved it when Spike became even more protective then she was.  
  
"Exactly! Besides, do I really need to remind you of Halloween?" He peered at her.  
  
Sullenly, she shook her head no.  
  
Buffy went back to the list, and started to laugh when she came to spandex shorts. She finished the list, and eyed them both.  
  
"Ok, that was fun and all, but you two are seriously nutty to have come up with some of this stuff. Now, Dawn, you need to sleep. You have school tomorrow. Spike, you know where the front door is. And Buffy, you know where the nice warm shower is." She hugged Dawn good night, waved to Spike, and left the room.  
  
After gathering up her nightgown and robe, she went to the bathroom, and started the water. Adjusting it to the right temp, she stripped down, and got in letting the water massage her tired muscles.  
  
Spike looked at Dawn. "You can cheer up, I know you won't follow my rule on dating. Just expect me to be watching if you do, bit. Just like I did with that sod last week. You know, the night you were at Janice's studying." He gave her that look, and she blushed. She had snuck out to go to the diner with Josh, a kid a year older then she was. She liked him, and really, all they did was eat together. She had insisted on paying her own way, since it wasn't really a date.  
  
Spike heard the shower turn on, and quickly said his good-bye's to Dawn. "It was fun tonight, bit, and I enjoyed myself." She smiled and hugged him before getting ready for bed. He slipped out of the room, then started towards the stairs. He stopped and looked back at the shower for a moment, then watched the light go out in Dawn's room. He slipped quietly into the bathroom, and watched through the foggy curtain. They had one of those opaque, but clear, curtains, so he could see all her movements, but couldn't make out most of her features. Sighing softly, he knew she would only be upset to find him in there, so he quietly left.  
  
Outside, he plucked a wild rose from the small bush beside their porch, and went back in to place it on her pillow. The shower turned off, and he turned and left quietly.  
  
Buffy was humming softly as she went into her room, towel drying her hair as she did. She had the list sitting on her desk, and started to look over it again. Finally, her hair was dry, and she turned to get into bed. She sighed softly and looked at the rose. Buffy flopped down on her bed, and picked the rose up, then rolled on to her back. She held it against her nose, and smelled it, then smiled while closing her eyes and squealing slightly. Out loud she said, "You guys are right, though... Spike isn't bad anymore..." With that, she turned off the light and took off the rob to fall asleep.  
  
Spike sat outside her window with a smile on his face. Maybe that list was good, after all. Chuckling, he climbed down, and walked down the street, his duster billowing slightly out behind him. He was a happy man tonight.

!! 


End file.
